Thousand & One Nights: Fifteenth Night: Prince & the She-Ghoul

Using the technique of nested tales, the story of Fisherman and Demon unfold the story of King Yunan and Sage Duban and the king takes us to the story of Husband & wife. This is the fifteenth night.

King Yunan continues the story: "After the husband killed the parrot and heard from his neighbours that the parrot had told him the truth, he was filled with remorse. You too, my vizier, being envious of this wise man would like me to kill him, and regret it afterwards, as did the husband who killed the parrot. When the vizier heard what King Yunan said he replied, 
"O, great King, what harm has this sage done to me? Why, he has not harmed me in any way. I am telling you all this out of love and fear for you. If you don't discover my veracity, let me perish like the vizier who deceived the son of the king." King Yunan asked his vizier, "How so?"
The vizier replied, "There was a king who had a son fond of hunting and trapping. The prince had with him a vizier appointed by the king to follow him wherever he went. One day the prince went with his men into the wilderness, and chanced to see a beast. The vizier urged him to go after the beast. The prince pursued and pursued and lost his track, and found himself alone in the wilderness, not knowing which way to go, and came upon a girl, standing on a tract, in tears. The young prince asked her, "Where do you come from?"
"I am daughter of an Indian king. I have been riding in the wilderness when I dozed off, and fell off the horse, and found myself alone and helpless." The young prince felt sorry for her, and he placed her behind him and rode on. As they passed by some ruins, she said, "O my lord, I wish to relieve myself here." He let her down and she went into the ruins. Then he went in after her, ignorant of what she was, and discovered that she was a female-ghoul, who was saying to her children, "I brought you a good fat boy." They replied, " Mother, bring him in, so that we may feed on his innards." Hearing this, the prince shook with terror, and fearing for life, ran outside. The female ghoul followed him, and asked, "Why are you afraid?" He replied," I have been unfairly treated."  She said, "If you have been unfairly treated, ask Almighty God for help, and he will protect you from harm." The Prince raised his eyes to Heaven.....

At the dawn the story telling was to be terminated.

End of the Night 


Note:-
1. Nestled stories: Nestled tales are also known as story within the story, or frame narrative. Here a character in a story becomes the narrator of the second story, creating a multiple layers of stories. They are also called embedded stories or sandwich narratives. Other than One Thousand and One Nights, The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer is a famous example, where a group of pilgrims tell their stories during their journey.
2. She Ghoul: A female ghoul or Mother ghoul, an evil spirits that digs up graves and eats the dead. Ghoul is derived from the Arabic word Ghul. These are characters found in folklores.
But in this story the mother ghoul represents cannibals. It is a clever narrative device to distance the audience from the harsh reality of cannibalism.
3. Euphemism and social commentary: Use of Ghoul as a euphemism for cannibals could be seen as a way to acknowledge the existence of such practices while avoiding explicit description that might be too disturbing or unsettling for the audience.
4. Cannibalism is an uneasy chapter in the evolution of mankind, as it highlights the complexities and darker aspects of human history.
5. Daughter of Indian King: She Ghoul claims she the daughter of Indian King. Here India is not limited to India or Indian subcontinent but the entire South Asia and the Americas. A word originated in reference to Indus River get extensive reach at the hands European merchants to mark "Others".


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